Auction Item Details
Lot 598
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Lot Number: 598
Description: Important Ted Williams Boston Red Sox professional model road jersey c.1946-1948 with related material. Ability: The capacity to do something; Talent that enables someone to achieve a great deal. Focus: The center of interest or activity. Determination: Firmness of purpose; Resoluteness. The process of establishing something exactly, typically by calculation or research. From an early age Ted Williams sought only to accomplish one goal in life; become the greatest hitter who ever lived. Uncommon natural ability combined with incredible focus and determination arguably allowed him to attain just that. Universally regarded as one of the greatest students of hitting that the game has ever known he is as revered today as he was at any point during his (19) years in baseball. Growing up in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego, Williams was just (8) years old when introduced by his Uncle, a former semi-pro player, to baseball. A star by high school he was tendered offers by at least two Major League teams before graduation but at the behest of his mother remained on the West Coast. At 17 years of age he signed on with the San Diego Padres, Pacific Coast League team. By 1947, then a full time roster player, he caught the eye of Boston Red Sox GM Eddie Collins. "It wasn't hard to find Ted Williams" Collins said, "He stood out like a brown cow in a field of white cows." A brash young Williams arrived at Spring Training for the 1948 season 12 days late and was ultimately sent down to the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate Minneapolis Millers where he won the American Association Triple Crown. Not even 20 years old he hit .366 with 43 home runs, and 142 RBIs. The following year, in his Rookie season with the Red Sox, he played at the same level and was declared by none other than Babe Ruth, in the days before a formal award was presented, to be -Rookie of The Year.+ It was a sign of things to come. During the three seasons which followed Williams put up a dizzying array of league leading performances across numerous statistical categories. From 1940-1942, he was the leading run producer in the American League, ended the 1941 season in dramatic fashion as the last player to hit .400, and in 1942 won his first of two Triple Crown Awards leading in runs, home runs, and RBIs. Called to action Williams gave up three of what may have ultimately been his most productive seasons to military service from 1943-1945. Upon return he proved better than ever and finished out the 1940s at the very top of the game. He was named Most Valuable Player in 1946 and helped the Red Sox to an American League pennant. The following season, 1947, he took home a second Triple Crown; only the second man in history to do so. His consistent hitting remained unstoppable and a .368 batting average in 1948 was good enough to top the AL. In 1949, he was named MVP for the second time. In attempt to corral his prowess at the plate, entirely new defensive mechanisms were put into play starting with the famed "Boudreau Shift." Though another decade of play, and an accompanying host of accomplishments and honors, would follow, it is the 1940s that are unquestionably Williams' finest years and the time period in which he solidified that legend that has grown. Fine all original grey flannel jersey manufactured with exceptionally rare zipper front style as employed by the Red Sox for just three or four seasons. Period photographs taken as early as the 1946 World Series show the team in zipper front jerseys and Williams himself is pictured as late as 1948 wearing the style. "Boston" team name is lettered across the front in stylized block letter blue felt and his famed number "9" is on back. In the collar is a "Tim McAuliffe" manufacturer's tag with adjacent size "44" flag tag. Below is an embroidered strip tag reading "Williams." Well preserved with appropriate usage and wash wear evident throughout including a team repair to upper left shoulder at neck line. The known population of Williams game jerseys is notably concise and examples which pre-date 1950 can literally be counted on one hand. Though the exact circumstances of how he came to possess the jersey remain lost to time, it has for decades resided in the care of former umpire Artie Gore and subsequently the Gore family. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gore was often the guest of the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association at various area functions and had deep ties to many Red Sox players.Material supportive of the long standing relationship Gore and Williams shared and thusly the direct chain of unbroken provenance is to include:
- Scrapbook page with affixed program to February 4, 1947 Boston Baseball Writers Association Dinner at which Williams was awarded their 1946 season Most Valuable Player Award. Gore is listed on "The Lineup" of notables within. Signed on the front cover by (11) attendees including Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bill Veeck, and signed/inscribed by umpire Bill Stewart. Back of the page has newsprint page from the Boston Herald related to the same event.
- Series of photographs of Gore and Williams together at various times in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. There are a total of (5) with (2) being identical. Pair of sepia toned 11"x14" period images with (1) framed as hung in the Gore home. Affixed label notes that it was taken at an All-Star Game. A pair which show both in sport coats at semi-formal functions (one 5"x7" sepia tone, the other 8"x10" color). And the last in which they can be seen with others at the Ted Williams Camp.
- Baseball signed on the side panel in ink, "To Artie Gore who loved it as much as I did, Ted Williams." Signature rates 8 out of 10 ("T" partially obscured running into stitching), ball (Wilson, Official Constellation League) displays very light even cream coloration.
- Letter of provenance from the family of Artie Gore.
Given the stature of subject, definitive dating to so noteworthy a portion of his career, overall esthetics and preservation, and unbroken chain of first hand provenance, we are confident in stating that this is one of the most significant 1940s flannels extant. Most certainly of museum quality and being offered for the first time publicly.
Includes LOA from Hunt Auctions, auction LOA from JSA (Williams signed material), and letter of provenance from the family of Artie Gore: EX
Estimated Price Range: ($100,000-$200,000)
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